As the man who became known as Stryker & the rest of his 'jacks continued to advance, my Juggernaut fought hard to hold them back. With the Cygnar Charger keeping our heads down with its Dual Cannon,while my Destroyer's Bombard continued to scatter from our target, I finally had my Juggernaut charge his Ironclad as it crested the hill flanking our left. I guided my Destroyer & Juggernaut to a nearby wall for cover while we prepared for their advance. They must have seen me coming first as not a moment later they began charging up a hill at me. "I was on patrol with my 'jacks when across the valley I stumbled across a Cygnar Commander & his own retinue. The first game was also my first time on my own.
My first game was against George who fielded his Cygnar Warcaster Commander Coleman Stryker & his Ironclad Heavy, Lancer, plus Charger Light Warjacks. A player wins the game when he has the only remaining warcaster or warlock in play or when all their opponents' warjacks or warbeasts have been wrecked or removed from play. Besides that, each army can include only warjacks or warbeasts units & solos have no place. Each player is allowed only a single warcaster or warlock. Such a battle proves a warcaster or warlock & their 'jacks/'beasts are the equal of an entire army. It is a brutal clash between warjacks & warbeasts in which the only goal is survival. The scenario for week one was Mangled Metal (Warmachine)/Claw & Fang (Hordes).
The first week utilizes only the models in a Battlegroup Box Set, so with my faction selection I choose Kommander Sorscha as my warcaster plus her two heavy warjacks, Destroyer & Juggernaut. While only having enough time to prime & basecoat most of my models for week one, what I have planned makes it easily attainable to get everything painted quickly & well by league's end.
Of all these newly acquired models in my possession, it was by far the easiest one to maximize my points for each week of the league. We discussed the options, I reviewed the rules, & narrowed it down to Khador as mentioned above. Finally there are prizes in the form of patches as you accumulate points. It's also a great way to meet other players of varying experience levels to hone your skills at the game along the way. The scenarios start at smaller points levels, then grow in scale & difficulty to help players get a good foundation on the mechanics of the system, while also giving a realistic approach to most people's time available to paint & assemble their models. When one of the members of the group, Kyle, mentioned he was going to pioneer a Journeyman League, I jumped on board! Finally! Here's a chance to learn such an amazingly detailed game with a tight set of rules, & even tighter fluff! If you aren't familiar with the league (or escalation leagues in general), you spend several weeks painting & assembling models while you learn the game. Add to that the wonderful ambiance of Enchanted Grounds, I have absolutely no problem spending 4-5 hours there every week! These guys have been incredibly friendly, fun, & informative. Having always been a fan of the original store in Highlands Ranch (despite it being a little bit of a drive), they were the catalyst for a perfect storm of what I was looking for. good friend!) to Enchanted Grounds' newly opened second location, which also happens to be here in Littleton with me. They recently moved from the iconic Bonnie Brae Hobby Shop (R.I.P. Enter stage right the Wednesday Knights Hobby Group. Most of the crew at Shieldbreakers was really cool, but as they were all the way in Aurora & I've been living in Littleton for well over a year, I've been itching to find a spacious place to play, with an outgoing, casual group that meets regularly to boot. On a little tangent, I've been looking for a good miniature group for some time now. With Privateer Press' All-in-One Army Box releases earlier this year, plus the Two-Player Battle Boxes they always have available, I went crazy, buying them all to get a head start on Khador, Protectorate of Menoth, Circle Orboros, & Legion of Everblight! After weighing in on all of these models, I decided on Khador to be the first faction I learn the game with.
Along with a handful of other war games, this is one I've been interested in ever since Miranda of War Gamer Girl fame ran me through an introductory game at Valhalla in 2013. So this last Wednesday I embarked on a journey to truly learn WarmaHordes.